Maine Winter, After-Christmas Sales, & Holt-Howard

My backyard after 4 days of snow. It looks so pristine and peaceful. Almost makes all the shoveling we did, worth it.



Well, I have already saved hundreds of dollars with my New Year's resolutions, albeit, not conscientiously or even voluntarily so...... It has snowed here in Maine, non-stop since New Year's eve. Hearing the sounds of sirens as emergency vehicles pass my house, have kept me off the road. I know, I had made a grand proclamation of my resolutions which included not making unnecessary purchases, and 75% sales at Michael's, A.C. Moore or the Christmas Tree Shop (although think of all the money I would be saving and not the actual spending part --- are you all following my line of reasoning) admittedly these purchases would count, nonetheless, as unnecessary. Remember, my goal, replace with vintage, thrift or homemade. I already own 12 trees, 1000's of ornaments, collections of nutcrackers, Santas, and Angels. Did I really need another purchase of anything "Made in China"? But gee whiz, it was 75% off, and I could take the items, and repurpose them into something so much better. Kind of like Sandra Lee of the food network turning store bought canned goods into her signature semi-homemade dishes. Did I mention that everything was 75% off, and dare I say, maybe even 90% off at some mall stores. Oh well. I was good. Hope that you are proud of me.

This evening, after shoveling for the second time today, I decided it was time to clean out my bag, a large canvas tote from L.L. Bean. For the past couple of weeks, all mail, receipts and other important papers have been tossed into this bag, for safe keeping during the holiday season. and more importantly, for keeping the kitchen table clean for company. I had tossed in a recent Home & Garden section of the Sunday paper to be read at a more leisurely time. There was a front page article about a florist from Maine being chosen as a White House Christmas Decorating volunteer. By the way, that is a new goal for me, as lofty and unattainable as it is, but one can dream. To help decorate the White House, how cool would that be! So I sit down with a cup of hot tea and start to read the article. I go to turn the page, and there are the words, in large type spread across the top of the page "Holt-Howard's playful designs warm the hearts of collectors" by Terry Kovel. Now this is so remarkable, because I had just posted that this was a new collectible for me. Prior to Vintage Christmas Monday, I had never heard of Holt-Howard. Several kind blogging friends gave me a lesson on these pieces. I am especially keen on finding their Pixies. I had even joked about the likelihood of my finding a Holt-Howard treasure at Goodwill. I think that may have the same prospect of me being chosen to volunteer at the White House. But one can always dream.

For those of you stopping by for Silver Sunday, please scroll down to the previous post.
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White to Black: A new Christmas Tree

Okay since I posted a serious Vintage Christmas Post, I thought I would do a second post today of another tree. Here is my Hallway Tree. I love to decorate, especially for the holidays. Every year I always think that I will try something new but I love how the old way already looks. So I tweak things, adding maybe just a new piece here or there .... I ask myself, why tamper with perfection. BUT THIS IS THE YEAR OF CHANGE! With the family room having had a complete makeover (see earlier post) and the addition of new furniture in the front hallway has given me the inspiration and courage to try something new. I thought I would post last year's photos( They are posted at the end because I forgot to bring over the photos in reverse order.) along with the new photos, and you can be the judge.

Today I'm showing my front hallway. My Eastlake hutch got moved from hallway to family room and replaced with a large 9 drawer pine dresser. This piece was hand built by my Dad's cousin and when he moved this summer to a smaller home, the dresser became mine. I immediately painted it black and switched out the wooden knobs for metal. It is a low piece that for as long as it is, fits perfectly under my hallway stairs and makes a great place for my collection of linens, salt and pepper shakers and silverware collections. A hall table was replaced with a small deacon's bench, also painted black. (My parents got this bench in the 60's using S & H Green Stamps.) With the introduction of all this black, my Christmas White theme needed to change. You guessed it .... all to Black. So first this year's photos followed by last year's. Please let me know what you think

My dad's silver reindeer adorn the candlesticks and floral arrangement and are flanked by the mercury glass pieces. I have used red as my pop of color.

This pine dresser is perfect for holding my collection of linens and silverware.



This is a metal basket, black of course, given to me by a friend. I have it filled with fresh greens and red flowers.

This is the deacon's bench that my parents got through S&H green stamps. Remember those? Of course I have presents wrapped in coordinating black, silver and red. The boxes are actually empty.

The pine cone wreath on the mirror has been every color. It is now Black. My family just humors me when they see me go out into the garage with object in one hand, and a can of spray paint in the other.
Not the best shot of the tree. It is black with red and silver ornaments.


Now the next pictures are of last year's Christmas with an all-white theme. I used white tulle with lights along the stairway railing.

This is my Wedding Tree. Everything is white. I have had this tree for years, long before White Wednesday.


I love these two gigantic ornaments hanging on either side of the door. My friend found them. Because of their large scale, perhaps they had once been used as a store display.


As always thanks for letting me share and thank you for all your kind comments. We still have a few more trees to go. Maybe I can finally get the photos done in day light and turn off the flash. Hey, I'm still new at this. Be sure to visit my earlier VCM post for today and all the other VCM participants. Thanks Joan at anythinggoeshere for a wonderful time in blog land.

The Music Room Tree

You have seen the 1960's Tree in the Family Room, the Victorian Tree in the Dining Room, this is the Music Room Tree. This little room is off the Dining Room and is separated by a large archway with the Front Parlor. We have our piano, my daughter's saxophone, and 4 guitars. The portrait that you see behind the tree is of Judge Waterman. It was his family that built my home in 1853 and he was born there in 1863. In fact in this very room. It had been used as a birthing room and it was also used for viewing the dead. If only these walls could talk!!!!

The small framed picture is of Mr. Waterman, the dad and builder of my house. As you can see, all the ornaments are musically-themed. Being as we are such a musical family in both instrument and voice, we receive a lot of these ornaments as gifts from friends.


This is a picture looking through the archway into the Front Parlor to the 9 foot family tree. I have fruit laden garlands on either side of this archway.


I wish that we could play you a Christmas Carol ...... so just imagine we are singing "Deck the Halls."

THE PERFECT TREE

I have been called a perfectionist --- like that's a bad word. Actually, I prefer the term "selective perfectionist". I mean when it comes to weeding in the garden, its just close enough. After all, I'll be doing the same thing the following weekend anyway. And do I really need to make my bed each morning with a dozen fancy pillows with coordinating pillow shams only to toss the pillows aside 12 hours later? This is not to say that I don't own these pillows, they are present when company arrives and my bedroom and specifically my bed, becomes the depository for coats. But to do it all on a busy Monday morning ..... really is it necessary? Since I entertain mostly outside from May - September, does the front parlor really need to be dusted and vacuumed? If a tree falls in the woods and no one is around to hear it .... is there a sound? So if a room is behind a closed door, is there still dust? Now I know these things relate more to mundane chores .... so nope, no perfectionism there. (Sorry Martha S., I have failed you.) However, when it comes to decorating, I'll admit to being a bit obsessive.

For example, I spent weeks this summer, tweaking my newly painted shelves in my family room re-do, editing my collectibles and bringing in new pieces to ensure just the right amount of white space (without looking too sparse and sterile) along with just the right amount of pieces to feel warm, inviting and un-cluttered. Following each rearrangement session, I would ask for comments only to receive, in an exasperated tone, "Mom, it looks just the same as before." I have been known to spray paint picture frames, mirror frames and anything else paintable, to achieve just the look I want, again and again and again. I even color coordinate my books. Currently the family room books are in shades of rust orange and olive green, my 2 accent colors for the room. When it comes to Christmas Trees, what I am especially known for, I'll admit to having removed strands of lights on a tree to only rearrange them again and again so that the look is perfectly uniform with the perfect sparkle.

I didn't start off with so many trees, like all collections, this grew over time. When my daughter was real young, we had only 2 trees. I was busy one day decorating the larger of the trees, carefully placing each ornament, limited as my collection was back then, for maximum eye appeal. My daughter asked if she could help .... she was 3. Being a good mom and a safe mom, I handed her a few of the non-breakable ones and proceeded to show her where to place them. NO, she wanted shiny ones, like Mom's. I had just purchased a cheap set of a dozen red glass balls, so no real concerns if one accidentally broke. I would place a hanger on each ornament and one by one handed them to my daughter to hang. I kept busy placing my vintage treasures high atop the tree, rehanging a few if necessary ... again for just the right look. This routine continued for several minutes, as we each worked in silence with only the faint sound of Bing Crosby singing "White Christmas" coming from the other room. When I took a step back to survey the tree, I realized that I couldn't see a single red ball. Confused, I turned to my daughter and asked where she had put all the ornaments. With an innocent and joyful grin that only comes from a happy child, she proudly pointed out her handiwork. There, all on one branch, were 12 red ball ornaments in all their shiny glory. "Mommy" she asked, "how does it look?" Perfect .... absolutely perfect!!

Vintage Monday

My first vintage Monday....I am so excited. First of all thanks to our hostess Joan at Anything Goes Here. I can't wait to see the other posts. Hope that you like my pics. These are from my 1960's Tree. Every ornament would have been on someone's tree in the 1960's. This tree first made its appappearance a few years ago. I had found two dozen vintage ornaments at a Christmas church fair for only a dime apiece. They became my inspiration for a new themed tree. They were plastic with bright pieces of felt and rather garish. I loved them. Additional ornaments to the tree came from a friend that was cleaning out her grandmother's house. I came home one day from work and found a box on my steps along with a note that said "I found these ornaments at my Nana's. They were bright, bold and tacky.....so I thought of you!!" Thanks. (I think) They did make a perfect addition. Most of the plastic/felt ornaments say Made in Japan.If you will notice, the painted eyes on the elf quartet are a little scary looking but that is what makes them so fun. I have over 4 dozen of the "peek in" , my unofficial title for them, ornaments like the blue ornament with the nativity scene. Of course the tree needed the large C-9 light bulbs. Those had to be the new reproduction ones that were UL approved. It also goes without saying that my 1960's tree is a tinsel tree, silver, of course. I think my ornaments are fun and I am glad to share them with you. Next Monday will be my ornaments from Germany ..... that are a good 50 years older than today's post. See you all next week. (My favorites are the two poodle ornaments and the red felt angel with the wax face standing next to the Christmas stocking. The sticker on the back of the stocking says Krees fifteen cents.)